An uneasy dwelling: the story of the Philadelphia Association community houses

Author:
GORDON Paul
Publisher:
PCCS Books
Publication year:
2010
Place of publication:
Ross-on-Wye

The Philadelphia Association has been providing places of asylum for over 40 years. Hundreds of men and women, whether formally designated ‘mentally ill’, or experiencing serious emotional distress, have entered a PA community house and been allowed to “go through whatever they have to go through”, in their own time and in their own way, free from the interventions of psychiatry or family. Despite the longevity and the radically different nature of the project, little has been written about the work. This book is an attempt to correct that. It is in part a history of the houses but also an account of how the houses work today and an exploration of their underpinning ethos. The most famous of the houses was the first, Kingsley Hall, which opened in 1965 and which has come to have an almost iconic status in the world of what has come to be called critical psychiatry. More than 15 houses have been run under PA auspices. In the past the PA was most closely identified with one of its founders, the highly public figure RD Laing. This book is an attempt to explain more about the PA and reveal misperceptions.

Subject terms:
mental health problems, psychiatry, residential care, therapeutic communities;
Content type:
practice example
Location(s):
United States
ISBN print:
978 1 906254 24 7

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